The old gods of hiring are falling. In boardrooms across the gaming industry, a quiet revolution unfolds—one where your ability to build worlds matters more than the paper that says you can.
This isn’t just another job posting. It’s a battle cry against everything we thought we knew about getting hired in games.
Benjamin Akar dropped a bomb on Twitter that’s got the whole dev community talking. His company isn’t just hiring differently—they’re completely flipping the script on what it means to prove you belong in game development.
“we’re hiring builders. don’t send a cv. send what you’ve shipped. projects. products. design. github. show taste. show ownership. late nights. early mornings. you only get a few real shots. if you believe in what we’re building, message me. remote in europe + north america. bonus if you grew up on minecraft.” — @benjaminakar
The message hits like a critical strike. No flowery job descriptions. No corporate speak. Just raw honesty about what they actually want: people who build things.
This approach cuts through the noise of traditional hiring like a sword through silk. While other companies drown in resume buzzwords and degree requirements, Akar’s team is hunting for something else entirely—proof of creation.
The “don’t send a cv” line isn’t just rebellious. It’s smart. CVs tell you where someone went to school and what jobs they held. Shipped projects tell you what they can actually do. There’s a massive difference between knowing the theory of game design and having the battle scars of actually shipping something players love.
GitHub repositories become portfolios. Side projects become proof of passion. That indie game you built in your bedroom at 2 AM? That’s worth more than any degree to a company that thinks like this.
The Minecraft connection isn’t random nostalgia—it’s genius talent identification. Kids who grew up building elaborate structures in Minecraft learned more than just block placement. They mastered spatial thinking, resource management, and creative problem-solving. They learned to see potential where others see nothing.
Minecraft veterans understand iteration. They know what it feels like to spend hours perfecting a design, only to tear it down and build something better. That mindset—the willingness to destroy your work for the sake of improvement—is pure gold in game development.
These are the developers who think in systems. Who see the skeleton beneath the skin of every game they play. Who understand that great design isn’t about flashy graphics—it’s about elegant rules that create emergent wonder.
The gaming industry has been wrestling with a talent crisis for years. Traditional hiring methods filter for credentials over capability, creating a system where the most passionate builders sometimes can’t even get through the door.
This shift toward portfolio-based hiring could crack that system wide open. Suddenly, the kid who built an amazing mod has the same shot as someone with a computer science degree. The self-taught developer with three shipped games carries more weight than someone fresh out of university with zero real-world experience.
Remote work amplifies this revolution. Geographic barriers crumble when you’re hiring for pure ability. The best builder for your team might be in a small town in Poland or a suburb in Canada. Traditional hiring would never find them. Skills-based hiring will.
This isn’t just about one company’s hiring practices. It’s a signal flare for an industry transformation. As more studios adopt this approach, the entire ecosystem shifts. Universities will have to rethink their curriculums. Job seekers will focus on building rather than resume padding.
The message is clear: show, don’t tell. Build, don’t just study. Ship, don’t just dream.
For aspiring game developers, the path forward just became both clearer and more demanding. Your GitHub is your new resume. Your portfolio is your proof of life. Every project you ship builds not just your skills, but your reputation in an industry that’s learning to value creation over credentials.
The age of paper qualifications is ending. The age of proven builders has begun. The only question left is: what will you build to prove you belong?
